


What is a hero, but a Mask and a Belt?

by halo4hire



Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead is So Done, F/M, Good Parent Midoriya Inko, Izuku is a nomu, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Nezu is nezu, Not really., Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Bakugou Katsuki, Redeemed Bakugou Katsuki, Sassy Tokage, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:13:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26382436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halo4hire/pseuds/halo4hire
Summary: At the age of six, Izuku Midoriya was taken from everything he knew in front of his young friend Katsuki Bakugou. For five year, he was forced into experiments by a villainous company who hid behind the name Sempiternal. During the titanic clash between One For All and All Might, he is able to escape, but due to weakness and exhaustion he doesn't get very far, and is found by Mei Hatsume. Now he must fight to reclaim his past, he must become stronger, faster, better. He must become a Kamen Rider.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Tokage Setsuna, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 15
Kudos: 26





	1. Ore, Sanjou!

**Author's Note:**

> I don't see many original rider Izuku fics so I figured I would try to make my own. Kamen Rider Jinkō, or Man-made Masked Rider. Cheers if you spot all three Kamen rider references. This fic is something I'm going to be working on while Delinquency is being proofread and I do actually have a plan for this story. If you see something you think should be fixed, don't hesitate to let me know, please. I know I'm not the best writer, and I'm seriously trying to learn and get better, so by sending feedback, you help me improve

"Nomu, kill the loud mouth."

The words were said indifferently, as if the fact that the order that would end in a death didn't affect the ragged, baby blue haired man with a hand on his face. Bakugou had called him "hand job," and Aizawa had to give the kid credit: the name had stuck, and it wasn't because he didn't care enough to come up with anything better.

The large, black skinned monstrosity screeched and moved too fast for Aizawa to stop it, heading directly toward Bakugou, who used his quirk to blast backwards away from the thing's grasping hand. It did not stop the back hand that caught him under the chin, however, nor did it dull the muffled crunch when he hit the wall. The monster moved again, its arm drawn back to land the finishing blow on the downed college student, but it found its path impeded by a red haired rock that tried to tank the hit, red lightning bouncing over his hardened form.

There was a resounding _crack_ as the meaty fist smashed the redhead's arms. The man stared at his arms in shock as they purpled and began to bleed,bone protruding from his forearms. He didn't get a chance to come out of the shock as he was tackled out of the way of the beast's powerful haymaker swipe by Bakugou. Aizawa watched the blond as the man stood over Eijirou Kirishima, who was beginning to lose consciousness, the shock of seeing his unbreaking skin break hitting him. Kirishima was probably the only person in the class Aizawa had seen been able to connect with the lone wolf attitude that Bakugou presented to the world, and to see the explosive blond ready to go down swinging to protect that bond affirmed any hope the professor had of the heroic quality of the young student.

The nomu stared at Bakugou, its beady little eyes seemed to glow with sinister power as it drew back its hand. Bakugou stood firm, the left side of his face swollen and blood dripping from his mouth. His bandoliers had been torn off, leaving his bare chest exposed. His hands clenched, sparking and popping as he prepared his explosive sweat. 

Aizawa tried to get up, he really tried. He could feel his arms scream from the fractures, he could feel the world spin from the nausea and pain. Judging by the bell tolling in the background, he was pretty sure he had a concussion. His erasure quirk was next to useless against the parody of a human. He fought to get to his feet, fought to save the students but he wasn't going to make it in time. The nomu swung hard and fast and Aizawa blinked.

When he opened his eyes, after that hair of a second it had taken to blink, some ridiculous miracle had taken place. A small man had caught the fist. Aizawa blinked again, suspecting he’d hit the ground harder than he’d thought.

The man stood there, holding the fist with obvious strain, standing covered in fully armored black bodysuit. What appeared to be green steam swirled around him, forming into jade and viridian crystal armor pieces that snapped into place as he stood there. The oddest part to the professor: that the belt on his waist that kept saying **"please stand back"** with an odd techno beat to it. The final bit of steam coalesced into a headpiece that snapped over insect like eyes, that glowed a vibrant green as the belt chirped, " **T-there is no need to fear, there is a Kamen Rider near! K-k-k-k-kamen Rider: Jinkō!"**

"W-what is this! Who is this npc!? Where did you come from!" Handjob screamed, scratching his neck hard. The warp asshole appeared next to him and said something in the groper's ear. "The fuck do you mean rogue? He's one of ours?! Fine. Nomu, kill him!" The spoiled brat screamed as he sat on his haunches.

The birdman screamed before turning and trying to punch the masked figure. In a flash of green light, the man was behind the nomu and the beast's arm was encased in emerald green crystal. The figure slapped the plate on the side of the belt buckle which then cried out, **"Rider Kick!** **_Nice choice!_ ** **"**

The man's foot began to glow green as the nomu swung around, trying to use the crystal to club the figure, only for the figure to duck under the swipe and deliver a powerful side kick to the nomu's stomach. The figure turned and began walking towards Handjob as green veins began to spread from the kick, eliciting a scream of pain from the nomu before it exploded in a green flash of light. Bakugou and Aizawa stared in bewildered confusion as the figure stopped and pointed at the warp quirk who's eyes seemed to widen in understanding. 

Quickly, he threw Handsy into a warp gate and moved to jump in himself, but the figure was already there, holding the bit of metal around Misty's neck. He slapped the plate on the other side of his belt then hit the other, getting the belt to yell out, **"FULL CHARGE!** **_HEH HEH, YOU'RE IN DANGER"_ ** as the figure twisted and slammed the warp gate into the ground and pulled his fist back. Green energy bled off his clenched fist before he brought it down hard on the warper's back as the belt yelled out, **_"Rider Punch!_ **" Almost immediately, the warper was covered in green before in a flash, he was encased in crystal. 

The figure cocked his head to the side as if in confusion before hitting the side of his cowl/helmet/thing muttering in a surprisingly young voice "Mei, we have another incomplete. Yes, like me. ETA on the Mirror's edge? Two minutes?! I'm surrounded by hero wannabes, what do you want me to do for two minutes? Tickle them? Fine. Yeah I'll talk to Aizawa. Not like I can haul an incomplete back to your lab without help, even with Mirror's edge. Yeah huh. Wait, did you say All Might? Shit, this just went from zero to fuck my life. What do you mean he can help? I just interrupted an attack on the university, the meat head sees the situation now and he'll take a swing at me. The fuck do you mean ‘I can take it.’ Are you insane? Don't answer that. No, no, I said don't answer that." The figure walked over to Aizawa and knelt down. "Yes, Mei. I'm going to talk to him now. Send medidroid #6441. Yeah, it's pretty bad. One student is in shock with severe contusions and open compound fractures on both forearms, both are on the middle ulnar. Another student looks like he has a mandible break in his lower jaw, heavy swelling makes me think there are hair lines in his upper as well." The man looked over at Bakugou.

"Maybe in the zygomatic area. Aizawa has both the radius and ulna bones in both arms splintered, looks like the nomu grabbed and squeezed and what looks like disintegration on the… you said you were taking notes! Fine, he had his arms broken and his elbow got touched by Dusty. Happy? Yeah, yeah. Looks like the drone is nearly here so I'm gonna stop being rude to Eraserhead and let you go."

The figure looked down at Aizawa and he could hear a subtle sigh. "Sorry I didn't get here faster, sir. The two nomu pinged on my radar and I headed here as fast as I could, but clearly it wasn't enough and now you have injured students butcanIsayjustwhatanhonoritistomeetyouandohmygodI'mtalkingtoEraserhead—" aizawa stopped listening to the figure and instead focused on the large, man-sized, green, floating, princess-cut gem floating behind the man. 

" **Ichigo,** " the gem called out, making Aizawa wonder if they were referring to the green gem guy who just kept muttering. 

**"Ichigo."** The bottom of the gem slid open to reveal mechanical parts. A long, thin cylindrical rod extended from the bottom. The man didn't notice.

**"Project Ichigo!"** the speaker on the now apparently robotic gem shouted as it jabbed the man in the side with the rod. The sound of a pop and electricity dancing got Aizawa's attention. Seriously, who the fuck was this guy?

The sound of glass smashing drew his attention again

_No…._

**"There is no need to fear!"**

No no no….

**"For I am here!"**

And this was why Aizawa wished he stayed in bed.

* * *

Project Ichigo would proudly say that not many things could scare him. That said, a pissed off All Might who thought he was a villain was pretty fucking terrifying. He did his absolute best to dodge All Mights blows, but each hit decreased the transformation stability meter drastically, and the guy wasn't going all out!

Ichigo had tried several times to explain himself, trying to Mr. Number One to chill out but every time he tried to talk, he got a globe sized ham hock to his gut. The man was fast enough to be able to predict his short range jumps, smash through any crystals he formed to slow the hero gone teacher down, and was wearing down the health of his transformation faster than he could keep up. 

Project Ichigo was completely and utterly scared of this raging rhino.

He tried to lean backwards to dodge another ear clap, but All Might was too close and still clipped his suit. He could feel the power of the transformation destabilizing as he watched the health meter blink red with the Alert symbol on it. He quickly ducked another swing and jumped hard backwards, landing near Aizawa.

"Sir, I am trying to help. Please call off Magilla Gorilla. Please! My suit can't take much more and I will be forced into a destabilized state and I don't know what that could do to my psyche," he pleaded at the professor, jumping again to dodge another swipe from the Pillar of Peace.

He managed to land, but stuck the landing wrong and tripped. Luckily he was able to roll just as All Might swung again. The Symbol did a quick swivel and Project Ichigo saw his life flash before his eyes as the giant fist swung at his face. He closed his eyes and prepared for the blow, only he didn't feel the impact.

He cracked open his eyes and saw thick white steam and a withered skeleton of a man wearing the same clothes as All Might had been. The man stood there, panting heavily, blood leaking from his mouth with his ragged breaths. The skeleton's eyes seemed to glow like fiery blue embers in the sunken hollow of the man's face, giving him a haunting visage as he started coughing hard.

"You said a forced detransformation would hurt you; does this mean you can drop the transformation willingly, or is it on a timer?" Aizawa asked as he limped into the cloud, his long black hair floating around his head, the glowing red of his eyes peering out of the shade of his hair as he stared at All Might.

Project Ichigo just collapsed on his butt and pulled two crystals out of his driver, a clear white one for the activation and an emerald green one for his balanced mode, getting a **"sleepy time!** **_Nice ride!_ ** **"** from the driver.

He let his head roll back as the transformation dissolved away, revealing a young teen in torn blue jeans, a red shirt that said "T-Shirt" in black letters and a black long coat. His face was simple, other than the eight freckles forming diamonds on either cheek, but his eyes shone with an emerald gleam, one eye sporting a black sclera as he looked up at Aizawa through his thick, curly locks.

"Eraser, why are you helping this villain?" The skeleton said, staring down at Ichigo. The younger man couldn't help but to rub his arms as a shiver passed through him.

"Villain? Try savior. He saved the lives of two students and a professor today, you daft oaf. He was even trying to deliver medical aid, which was what you interrupted. Consider yourself lucky that you didn't smash the robot while trying to fight him. Now," Aizawa turned to the boy sitting on the ground, "the robot called you—" 

"I-Izuku?" a voice behind them said softly, making Aizawa sigh. The boy on the ground leaned to the side and looked at the young man who was staring at him with a wide red pupiled eye, the other being swollen shut. Ichigo blinked as he took in the torn clothes, the busted up knee pads, the ripped bandoliers, and what looked like crushed gauntlets.

"I am told that is my name, yes. Sadly that is all I can tell you due to long term amnesia. Did…. Did you know me?" He got up and grabbed the blond's hands, looking at him with pleading eyes. "Please! Anything about who I am is incredibly helpful."

"Is that to mean you don't have any memories at all?" Aizawa asked, watching the pair curiously.

"Aside from my name, no. David," the skeleton tensed with wide confused eyes, "my sponsor, only found that out from a missing person case. So please, sir, anything you can tell me about my life would be greatly welcomed! I've been trying since I got free to find out who I am," he said as he turned back to Bakugou, who still looked like he was in severe shock with wet eyes.

""You… don't remember?" Bakugou finally said, looking at Ichigo who shook his head.

"Sorry, but no. David and Melissa said they were going to try and find a way to restore my memories, but besides that, I have nothing. Nothing but my project name and some quote from _The Three Musketeers_."

"Hold up, David and Melissa Shield?" All Might said, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah! Do you know them? They helped Mei make my stabilizer and driver."

"Ok, we can pump you for information later. Um...Ichigo, yes?" Aizawa asked, turning to the green haired man, who gave him a nod. "What kind of medical supplies does that robot have?"

Ichigo scratched his head. "Well to be honest, Mei hasn't told me. She just said drone #6441 was a mobile medical center, if that means anything."

"Mei Hatsume? From the Support Course?"

"Um.... Likes to call her projects her babies?"

"Yagi, get Nezu on the line, tell him to confer with Mei Hatsume about how to utilize her drone. I—"

"Why?" The green haired kid interrupted. "She can hear everything already. The drone has live streaming. She's probably already had medic sub routines running."

"Just...just talk to Bakugou and don't move."

"But I—"

"Don't. Move." He glared at Ichigo, sending a shiver down the man's back. Yagi, come with me, regardless of your form, you're still a teacher and we have injured people. We need to get confidentiality oaths from the class, thanks to you."

"O-oh. Right." The skeleton said, looking at the boy for a moment before turning and following Aizawa. 

Ichigo turned and looked at Bakugou who was still looking at him. "So...uh, they said your name was Bakugou?" He got a small nod. "Um, can you tell me how we knew each other?"

".....Our mothers were childhood friends," the blond said quietly as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Were...were we close?" Ichigo asked, looking over the teen.

"I was there when you were kidnapped. Tried to help you, but I was five." He lifted the fringe of his shaggy hair, showing his temple where there was a long, thin, jagged scar that ran into his hairline. "One of the guys hit me in the head with the stock of their gun. Woke up three days later with my mom telling me they took you. Me, Inko, and Mom looked for years trying to find even a whisper of you. Your bastard of a father, though, he gave up. Didn't even have the fucking courage to face Inko, your mother, by the way, when he sued for a divorce. Didn't even fucking…" the red eyed bomber took a breath and exhaled loudly, "it broke Aunty. She just...stares at the wall now. She's there, but not really, you know? When you disappeared, her world shattered to pieces."

Ichigo felt his heart clench tightly as tears began to well up in his eyes. He tried his best to stop it, but the tears had a mind of their own. It confused him; he was crying, but didn't know why he was crying. He had no memories of either of them. He'd have to talk to David about that. Maybe it was a sign of genetic instability? 

"I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong. So," he wiped his eyes, "what was I like as a kid? I bet I was a hyper little shit."

Bakugou barked a laugh. "Yeah you were. One of the nerdiest fucking shots I ever knew, but you had heart. Even when you found out you were quirkless, you kept getting up. At first I thought you were the dumbest shit ever, but when I saw your eyes when they…. when they took you, like you wanted my help, how scared you were. It, well, it broke something in me. I moved before I could think and tried to help you. Since then I've found myself asking 'what would Izuku do?' and the answer was always 'something stupid'. Hell, you would have thrown yourself in front of a train to save a kitten, while I wasn't the most heroic person. Before you were taken, I was probably well on my way to becoming a bully."

"Not what I saw. You were standing over that other guy like you were ready to give it all you had, even though you looked like you were on your last leg. Speaking of, how is your jaw? From the look of it, you really shouldn't be talking."

Bakugou chuckled slightly, "I'm actually in right fucking agony right now, but fuck it. The person I failed shows up fourteen years later with amnesia, I'm going to try and help, even if it kills me. It's what you would have done back then."

Ichigo snorted out a laugh and said, "hell I'm still like that sometimes. Drives Mei insane. Melissa too."

Bakugou smirked, "I feel you on the girlfriend bit. Setsuna can chew a fucking hole outta my hide when I do something stupid. Which is more often than I will admit."

Ichigo scratched his head. "Um… they aren't my girlfriends. I mean I like them, both are dead gorgeous, but they're kinda out of my league."

The blond turned and stared at the green haired man with a deadpan, "You just drove off a group of villains, actual villains, beat that bird freak with a kick and made their ring leader piss himself, then went a round with fucking All Might. You practically own the fucking league at this point. Ask one of them out, you never know."

**"Project Ichigo,"** —"what the fuck, is that a fucking talking gem?"— **"Mirror's Edge has arrived and 95% of the wounded are cared for. Mistress Mei would like to know your status. Shall I inform her that you still cling to the mortal coil?"**

"Yes, tell Mei I'm OK, Melvin. Tell her I found a big clue about my past as well."

**"Very well, I will inform the mistress that your timely demise was not today,"** the robot said with a recorded sigh that seemed somehow sarcastic.

"Did… did your fucking robot just sass you?" Bakugou asked with a hint of confusion in his voice.

"Yeah," Ichigo sighed. "Mei read an old book from about two hundred years or so ago by a guy named Douglas Adams. Now we have clinically depressed, sassy robots. Fun read, though I still haven't figured out how you forget how to fall yet."

"The fuck?" 

As Project Ichigo stood there, a thought crossed his mind. "Wait, did that guy just shrug off a severe concussion?"

Bakugou just laughed in response.

* * *

Project Ichigo stared at the bear/dog/mouse… thing.

The bear/dog/mouse… thing stared at Project Ichigo.

Naomasa Tsukauchi stared at Aizawa.

Aizawa was wrapped in a lot of medical bandages.

"Today got really odd," the detective said with a sigh. "Ok," he said, looking like he was trying to reign in his sanity. "You've stated that your name is supposed to be Izuku Midoriya, but you have no real recollection of being called that prior to today? This was the truth. 

"You've spent the last five years with a Mei Hatsume, who, with the help of people named David and Melissa Shield from I-Island, made a system to stabilize your genetic sequence? And this is supposedly enough to let you fight those Nomu things? Genetic monsters made by a Villain you think was called All for One? Somehow that too was a truth." He rubbed the bridge of his nose like he was trying to fight off a headache. 

"So far you have defeated nineteen of these creatures using the alpha test version of this system and six after switching to the beta version. Kid do you not realize how strange this sounds? This sounds like some Saturday morning anime protagonist stuff, something my daughter would watch, one of them monster-of-the-week kind of serials. Eraser, where do you hide your whiskey? Everything he has said has been the truth."

Project Ichigo kept staring at Nezu and Nezu kept staring at Project Ichigo.

* * *

  
  


"So yeah. Apparently, I have to be part of the Yuuei Heroic Course or something cause I'm not supposed to fight nomu without a license," Ichigo said as he scratched the back of his head.

Bakugou barked a laugh as he walked beside the green haired boy and Setsuna Tokage, a grinning, green haired girl that Bakugou had introduced as his girlfriend. 

"Yeah, it's kind of illegal to use your quirk in public without the license outside of self defense, though even that is a grey area. Speaking of, what is your quirk name? Like, Kat said you could form crystals," Tokage said as she leaned around Bakugou to look at Ichigo, who scratched his cheek.

"Well, it's more than that. In my base form, the quirks aren't attached to my genetic code quite right or something, the details went over my head, but if I use the driver, it acts sort of like a conduit, a way for the quirks to attach to my genetics and, depending on the crystal key I use, help me access them. Like my favorite one, the emerald key, allows me to crystallize things."

"Oh! Ok, I think I understand. What else can you do?" she asked, as she wrapped an arm around Bakugou's elbow.

"Well… I have my Ruby state and my Lapis Lazuli state. Ruby gives me a form of speed and burning claws, while Lapis gives me the limited ability to boost the regeneration of other people and a minor form of hydrokinesis."

"Heh, so you're like that half'n'half bastard," Bakugou said with a friendly smirk. "Still gotta say, it'd be fun as hell to go all out with you, seeing as you took hits from All Might, wonder what I could do."

"Yeah, gonna have to pass, sorry. Forced detransformations send a feedback that are insanely painful and All Might, even if he wasn't going all out, damn near broke the emerald state. Had he actually hit me full powered, I would probably be turned to goop from the destabilization." Ichigo scratched his cheek again, "Mei and the Shields are trying to fix that issue."

"Wait, you can die if your transformation is forced out?!" Setsuna exclaimed loudly, stopping in place to stare at Ichigo in disbelief.

"I mean, not really die, per se, just goop. Like the, um... molecules, yeah. My molecules unbind and I start gooping. Alpha test driver actually did goop me when a nomu smashed the blank state. We caught it quick enough And learned from it." He put his hands together behind his head and looked up to the blue sky that was beginning to turn orange before continuing. "By separating the quirks by states, all the power isn't in one form. In doing so, you spread out the stress on my molecular bonds enough that the transformation is more durable. Mei said this would make the feedback less...um...feedback-ey," Ichigo stated with a nervous chuckle. "Then again, so far only All Might has ever pushed me that hard. Mei did say there are more unknown quirks grafted to me and she and the Shields are trying to decipher what they are and how best to pair them in a state."

"So basically you need a 'best match' to use the quirks," Setsuna said with a grin.

Bakugou snorted. "So they were trying to turn you into that thing at the USJ, but for some reason they failed. Why didn't they pull the quirks from you?"

"I couldn't tell you. The first thing I remember is apparently the villain mastermind fighting All Might five years ago." Ichigo said with a shrug. "The detective swore I probably misheard what All Might called him, but I'm not sure. Then again, I woke up in a cylinder. What do I know?"

Setsuna grinned, nudging Bakugou's shoulder with her elbow. "More than Kitty Kat, from what I hear. Sixty-eight on your English exam?"

"Oh, fuck you."

"I wish you would!" she exclaimed as she took off running down the road towards their goal, the Bakugou residence. 


	2. Shabadoobi Touch to Henshin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash backs ahoy, how did Mei find Project Ichigo? How did Mei meet Melissa? How much is   
> the price of coffee at Disney world?

In the darkness of the memory, one can find a cacophony of noise. Voices of time past, fragments of memories and senses they leave behind. One's first kiss, the loss of innocence, that time one skinned their knee trying to imitate a sports player. The memory is quite the queer place, yes? 

* * *

We remember our first victory: 

"And just what do you call that flashy little maneuver?" 

"I think I'll call it the Rider Kick."

* * *

We remember our greatest moments of despair: 

"Kacchan!"

"Deku! Let him go, you fucking rat shit anal suckers!" A young child's voice cries out before being silenced by the sound of wood hitting flesh.

* * *

We remember the greatest moment of salvation: 

"Hey, are you ok?" A young girl with soot and oil on her face entered his fading vision, her crosshair eyes wide with concern. "Hey! Stay with me! Hey!"

* * *

Our moments of fear: "What about Project 1, sir?", A deep voice said, their nervousness clear in their voice.

Green eyes with mismatched sclera watched fearfully out of the small porthole of his container.

"He's a failure, yes? Then we have no use for him. Dispose of him as you will while I deal with our uninvited guest," A rich, regal sounding voice said with some boredom inflected in his voice.

The one without a name began to struggle, thrashing in the fluid, his form loose and liquid like, appearing melted in places as it sagged under its own weight as the being floated in the thick liquid.

* * *

The mind is a wonderful and lively place, but it's also the most dangerous. Inside the mind hide one's demons:

A jagged, viridian green crystalline head rears up, its eyes glowing a sinister red, and roars. Its teeth fractured and edged in the wide open maw as the force of the roar sends shockwaves into the darkness. On the beasts was the Greek Omega sigil glowing in purple.

* * *

But one shouldn't get ahead of themselves. Memories are fragile things after all, one must take care and take heed. 

* * *

**July 9th, five years ago, Takoba Municipal Beach Park, Musutafu, Japan 08:57**

She had begged her mother to let her come out to this beach to look for scraps, and with some convincing, she was allowed to look through the smaller piles for items that could make her babies better. She had a chaperone, her elder brother, who was sleeping in the seat of his pick-up as she dragged pieces of metal and electronics to the bed. That was when she saw it. A beautiful gem, just nestled in the rubble. It was far bigger than what her mother had said she could have, but she  _ needed _ it; it sang to her.

It was filled with some form of slime, though it was too dark to see inside of it as she wiped the dust and grime off the porthole. She took a step back and stared at the container. She could probably drill a hole in it and let it drain, but whatever was in it could be toxic or radioactive. This was an illegal dumping ground so who knew?

She looked over at her brother who had his arm draped over his eye and she was pretty sure he was snoring, then back at the canister. The thing had to be at least two hundred and forty-ish centimeters, give or take, and it was far too large for her tiny body to carry alone. She needed help, which meant bribing her lazy brother to help. Maybe getting that new Midnight magazine he was wanted would be enough, they were easy to get if you knew the right channels. Why someone would want to look at a woman in the nude like that was beyond Mei, but her brother liked the pictures and that was enough for her.

* * *

New fact, Elder brother is not strong enough to lift the canister. In fact, Mei was pretty sure that he now had a hernia. The mission had been failed, sadly. No amount of pulling or lifting had gotten the thing to budge. So now she was driving her brother's truck to the hospital, sitting on two books and some quickly cobbled together stilts to reach the pedals. There was a car with red and blue lights following them, but she wanted to get her weak brother to the mecha- the doctors so they can rebuil- fix him. She swerved into the entrance and pulled up to the door, breaking hard so she didn’t run the truck into the waiting room. Driving was fun, she'd have to do it again. 

She ran up to the help desk and started tapping on the bell excitedly, getting the attention of a nurse. The nurse rolled her eyes, "Young lady, could you stop? There is no need for that noise when I'm sitting right here. Wh—"

"PleaseMybrotherisintheseatofthetruckoutsidewithwhatcouldbepulledmusclesandaherniaAtleastIthinkit'saherniaIt'sallbulgeyandpurpleHewastryingtoliftthisreallyawesomecontainerthingIwantedtoturnintoscrapbutitwasreallyheavyandthentherewasagurgleandhescreamedandhisarmsstartedturningpurpleItisn'thisquirkhe'squirklessbutIstillmakehimbabiestohelphimIhadtomakebootstodrivehistruckhereandtherewasacarwithblueandredlightsfollowingandnowI'mheretryingtogetyoutohelphimpleasegivemybrotheratuneup!"

The nurse raised her eye. "I see. Alright  _ dear _ ," she said with a barely hidden eye roll, "I'm going to need you to move along. More important people are waiting." 

Mei looked behind her and saw that the waiting room was mostly empty. "But—"

"Move along, miss," the nurse said with a shooing motion of her hand.

"But I—" the teen's eyes began to well up in confusion.

"No buts. We don't have the space for unimportant quirkle—"

A throat was cleared, drawing the attention of the nurse and the budding artificer with teary eyes. A tall man with long, sand brown hair stood to the side of the help desk, wearing a long white lab coat over a crimson hoodie, holding a small teen roughly Mei's age to his side. His face just had the look that screamed, "I am so done with you" as he glared at the nurse.

"Mr. Shield! Um, I er, sir, shouldn't you be up with your brother?"

Mei looked up at the man with wide eyes. THE David Shield? The legendary gear maker!? Her idol?!! Important, but big brother first.

"Oh, no. Toshi can handle me being gone long enough for me to have a smoke and get my  _ quirkless daughter _ something to eat. So by all means, don't let me interrupt.  _ Finish your sentence." _

"Sir, I don't"

The man covered his daughter's ears, "here's an idea, you condescending twit. How about you stop being a colossal cunt and do the job you are paid to do before I have you fired. I did just buy this hospital after all. Afterwards, I think you and I will have some words about 'on the job professionalism'." 

The nurse looked confused and blinked before turning and walking over to a passing doctor. Mei couldn't hear what was said, but the doctor immediately turned red and started yelling at the nurse, who immediately ran to grab a gurney. A hand plopped down onto her head causing her to turn and look up at the man, who had such a wide bright smile that Mei had to blink dots out of her eyes. "So, if i heard you right, you like to tinker?"

* * *

"Holy shit. What inspired your brother to try and lift this?" the man exclaimed as he looked over the cylinder. 

"Daddy! The memory is still intact!" cried his daughter, Melissa's as her small voice carried down from the top of the cylinder. The blonde girl looked over the edge down at Mei and her father. "Looks like an Epsilon type link system! Think you could link to it?"

David scratched his chin. "Hmmm depends on if it still has power. We could probably rig a generator together from some of these car engines or… Ms Hatsume, what are you doing?" he said, noticing that only the lower part of the young artificer could be seen in the garbage.

"Making a baby." Came the muffled reply.

"Oho? What will the baby do?" he said, humoring the young girl, or at least that's what he was thinking until she pulled out a rusted boat engine, a blender, a Ford Mustang battery and a toothbrush , cobbled into an odd mess that weirdly enough worked. Until it exploded.

"Yay! Progress!" 

David just stared at her with wide, shocked eyes.

* * *

Between the three, one an actual gear maker and the others being two teens that were eagerly absorbing his advice and wisdom, they were able to make a functioning generator and power the cylinder from bits and bobs from the trash. The biggest part from the busted mustang Mei had pulled the battery and the boat engine. It didn't look the greatest, but it was made from trash and filled with a lot of rust and grime.

It did its job however and soon the cylinder was humming. Mei watched as David synced a wrist mounted holo terminal to the internal computer that Melissa had pointed out and copied the data. Mei and Melissa were both peering over his shoulder as he sat sifting through the data.

"Well, from what I can tell it is a stasis pod. Something called Project Ichigo. From what I can gather out of what isn't corrupted, the project kept destabilizing and they were forced to scrap whatever it was. Hmm, doesn't say exactly what the project was exactly. Just keeps repeating the words 'quirk' and 'Nomu'. I think I can get it opened. Girls, stand back, just in case, yeah?" 

Melissa scampered and hid behind a car as David took command of the cylinder's controls and began the draining. Thick, green, viscous liquid shot out of the side, splashing on the door of a car, quenching into the rust. With a rumble and a hiss, the front of the pod snapped outwards and groaned before motors pulled the doors open with a squeal of tearing metal. David's eyes widened in horror as he beheld the contents of the cylinder.

A child, maybe eight or nine in appearance lay on the floor of the pod, shivering. The child was quite obviously male, but it was the eyes that caught David's eyes the most. Both eyes had vibrant emerald green eyes, but the left eye had a black sclera. The sheer amount of fear in those mismatched eyes caught his breath in his chest. Even more so when David noticed the sagging of the left cheek.  _ 'Molecular instability?'  _ he asked himself. 

Mei peeked out of her hiding spot and slowly approached the boy, making his mismatched eyes jerk to her as he seemed to try and pull himself weakly into a tighter ball. "Hey, are...are you ok?" The boy watched her closely, his face saying further. His eyes quickly began to lose their focus and rolled back as the boy relaxed, hopefully unconscious.

"Hey! Hey, stay with me! Hey!" 

David was already on the phone with his hospital, demanding strength quirks and discretion.

* * *

Ichigo opened his eyes, shaking his mind from the day he was rescued. Mr. Shield had quickly discovered the cause of the instability. Someone had tried to force quirks that were not natural to his body and he was rejecting the unnatural additions. He had quickly made a device that worked like a set of quirk suppression cuffs and blocked the quirks forced upon him. 

David had talked to several contacts trying to discern who Project Ichigo was, but it was only through a cold case that he learned his name was Izuku Midoriya. One contact had seemed particularly interested in how his body was rejecting the quirks forced upon him, but David had refused to tell Ichigo who. Sadly, they hit a dead end after learning his name, which left David baffled. It was as if someone had erased all record of Ichigo's life.

Ichigo blinked as he realized he got lost in the few memories he had left again. Tapping his ear, he triggered the comms device David had left him before he had to return to I-Island to report to his boss. 

"David, this is Ichigo. Are you absolutely sure this is going to let me use the quirks?"

"In theory, yes. All the data and virtual tests show that it should stabilize the genetic molecular bond between your body and the quirks."

Ichigo scratched his head. "So, um, what do i need to do, exactly."

"For one,relax. I can hear your tense muscles all the way over here. All you have to do is put the white key into the left slot, then when the belt tightens, slide the black key into the right slot. Once you do that, yell the voice command 'henshin' and twist them both."

Ichigo scratched his head and looked around the warehouse he was standing in. "Ok. Mei, I know you're listening," a squawk could be heard over the comms, "rider system, alpha test, first trial." He looked at the camera and pulled the driver onto his naval. A hiss of compressed air sounded as the belt shot out of the side of the driver and wrapped loosely around his waist. Closing his eyes, he pulled the white key out of his pocket and pushed it into its slot.

**"STAND CLEAR, NOW!"** a deep robotic voice yelled, making Ichigo jump as the belt began emitting an air raid siren.  **"THIS IS NOT A TEST, STAND CLEAR NOW!"**

"Hmm Mei, make a note, when we do the beta model, make the user interface personality more friendly," David said over the comm

"Why not do it when he gets back? I still have some of the preprogrammed lines we made," came her reply.

The belt cinched tight on his waist and he spotted the black key.  **"ERROR! MAXIMUM OVERCHARGE!"**

Pain.

It felt like everything was tearing itself apart. Ichigo fell to his knees as he watched his skin through gritted teeth. Black marks began cropping up like bubbles all over his arms, growing larger until all of his visible skin was blacker than a moonless night. He loosed a loud cry as jagged multicolored crystals began to erupt from various points of his body, forming a rudimentary form of armor. 

He knelt there, his mind fogged with the haze of the pain. "Ichigo, I want you to listen very carefully. Remove the keys. Something has gone wrong and the output is too much."

"S-Sir, cont-tinuing with the test," Ichigo said through labored breaths and grit teeth. Everything felt like it was on fire as he struggled to his feet. With a cry of "henshin!" he twisted the keys and the world turned white.

* * *

  
  


" … ere are reports are still coming in about a berserk monstrosity that rampaged through downtown Tokyo. First hand witnesses claim to have seen a dark crystalline figure battling monsters that looked similar to it. The heroes that tried to fight it were immobilized in some sort of crystal. This reporter asks this: are we being invaded by aliens? Is there a new form of quirk amongst our kind? Why was All Might a no-show? More on this story at 6…"

Ichigo groaned as he opened his eyes before jerking back slightly as the first thing he saw was angry crosshair pupils. She leaned back in her chair and looked at him. "Mr. Shield said to stop the test. He saw the spike and how much pain you were in and called the stop. Did you listen? No! Instead you went ahead with it and caused a severe power outage to half of Tokyo, probably about five hundred and thirty million yen in property damage and most importantly, you broke the baby we have been working on for three years to give you a way to fight against the people who took you. Miccael had to sneak you out of the area in his truck so you wouldn't get picked up by the heroes." She stopped and rubbed her eyes.

"Do you know what would have happened if you had gone longer? If the driver hadn't exploded? Your molecules would have lost their stability and you would have come apart at the seams." She grabbed the burned and fragmented driver and shook it under Ichigo's nose to emphasize her point.

* * *

"Alpha test, take two." Ichigo said as he slapped the driver onto his naval. He pulled the white key out and stared at it.

"What's wrong Ichigo?" David said over the comms

"It's just, what Mei said after last time hit me, you know. What if there is no return if I go berserk again?"

"I installed a command override, just in case. Don't worry kid, we thought of this. It's the point of the alpha test to try and catch all of the bugs before the real deal. Not to mention the black key will only unlock six quirks at once this time instead of all of them."

"Ok. Here goes… well, something," Ichigo said as he slapped the white key into its port.

**"please stand back, p-p-p-please stand back** .  **Please stand back, p-p-p-please stand back** . **"**

David's voice came over the comm. "Mei, why does it sound like it's having a stroke?" 

"I thought it added character! Needs some music though, something that makes it feel like everything is going to be ok. Ooo! Miccael can make some!" she replied.

Ichigo shook his head, before hesitating as he prepared to put the black key in.

_ "you would have come apart at the seams!" _

He slammed his eyes open and thrust the key into place. He would fight against the villain who took his memory, his life. The man who tossed him away like trash instead of a person. He would find out who he was, even if he had to walk through hell to get there.

"Hen—" he turned the keys "—SHIN!"

the wind picked up around him as steam began to stream from his body. A deep itching sensation crawled over him as his skin took on the black mottled appearance before the steam began to coalesce into a form fitting armor around him, tight, but not uncomfortably so. The remaining steam began to collect into crystalline armor pieces that latched onto the base suit and molded to his form. The faceplate slammed with a bit more force, knocking his head back a bit. Ichigo watched as the video lit up with a heads up display over his eyes

**"I** am **a** Ka **M** en **Ri** D **er!"**

* * *

He stepped out of the convenience store carrying the bag of groceries Mei and Miccael had demanded he go get, something about a nabemono dinner. He closed his eyes as his altered eyes readjusted to the noonday sunlight, watching people pass by him with a sigh. One day, he would be one of them again, knowing who they were and able to find peace of mind in what made them who they were. He tightened his grip on the bag, anger that targeted the frustration inside of him, fear that he would never remember who Izuku Midoriya was.

A cry of pain and fear pulled his attention away from his angst as he beheld a large three meter tall fishman with black skin and red scales step out of an alley. Nomu. Ichigo's brow furrowed, how did he know that? Why did it feel like everything in him was demanding he fight the monster, prove his superiority. Remind the world of his existence.

It felt like something pulsed inside of him as he moved, dropping the groceries on the ground. As he ran, he pulled the driver out of the backpack he had stored it in when he left the warehouse and slammed it onto his waist.

**"Standing by."**

He slid to a stop in front of the monster and slapped the white key into its slot.

**"please stand back, p-p-p-please stand back** .  **Please stand back, p-p-p-please stand back** . **"**

He ducked under a trash can that the fish threw before it roared at him, and slammed the black key into place. 

"Henshin!"

The nomu tried to swipe at Ichigo before screaming in pain as steam poured from the teen, rapidly forming into the rider form. Following his instincts that screamed as soon as the headpiece set, he pushed heat to his fingers and watched in awe as they seemed to lengthen into three centimeter long claws that glowed a bright cherry red, the air around them distorting from the heat they produced. The fish bellowed at him again and charged, picking ichigo up in a tackle before slamming him into the concrete support pillar of the mall plaza, knocking the air out of him. He thought quickly and raked the heated claws along the fish's scales, making it scream in pain again, quickly letting go of the rider. It swiped its webbed hand at the teen's head, but Ichigo managed to get his arm up in time to block it, though the force still sent him bouncing on the pavement. 

"Ichigo, I can see from my terminal you've activated the rider system outside of testing. Why?" Ichigo looked around, he had left the comm piece at the warehouse so how was he hearing David's voice?

"Ichigo, I'm talking through the interface of the suit. I haven't installed a combat mode for the system yet and just what the hell are you fighting?"

"Nomu. One that isn't a failed one like me. A complete." Ichigo said, not knowing if David could hear him or not. He thought for a moment then focused the green firm feeling to his foot, mixing it with the cold energy. Maybe.

He waited for the fish to charge again, getting up so that he could jump if needed. He tensed as the fish screamed again and ran full tilt at him and time seemed to slow down. He quickly jumped and used the fish's shoulder to bounce higher as the fish lost its balance and fell on its face, before he felt gravity pull him back to earth. 

As he began to descend, he started rotating until he was just above the creature where he lashed out with an age kick, pushing all the collected firm and cold energy out of his foot and into the creature before kicking off it and landing on his feet with his back to the monster and turned to see emerald veins spreading from the impact as the skin around the veins turned an icy blue. The fish was clawing at the spot, shrieking in pain before in a flash, the veins covered the whole form of the beast and the red turned a frosty blue. The sound of glass shattering filled the emptied street as the frozen nomu cracked and shattered into frozen dust, blown away in the breeze. Ichigo dusted his hands and picked up the groceries as he pulled the keys out, dropping the transformation. 

"And just what do you call that flashy little maneuver?" Came David's voice from Ichigo's cellphone. He stopped and pulled out his phone to see the man's face glaring at him. 

"I think I'll call it the Rider Kick."

* * *

**Present, Musutafu district**

Bakugou knocked on the door and pulled Setsuna close to him, hiding Ichigo. Try as he might, he couldn't suppress the nervous anxiety that had popped up inside of him. What if she didn't remember him? What if she didn't like what he was now? What if she called him a monster? What should he say? Should he have brought flowers? This was dumb, he was dumb. He needed to leave.

Ichigo felt a hand land on his shoulder. "Fourteen fucking years and you still havent broken the creepy mumbles," Bakugou said as he pulled Ichigo back onto the landing. "Listen, shit for brains, and listen well. She has been waiting for fourteen fucking years for you to come home and she has been through hell. So...just fucking just—"

"Do it for her," Setsuna chimed in.

Bakugou looked at her and wiped his face as he turned to look back at Ichigo. "Yeah, that. Fucking do it for her." He reached over to his side and beat on the door again, still holding Ichigo's shoulder. 

"I heard you the fuckign first god damn time, WHAT?" a voice exclaimed as the door was snatched open to reveal someone who could probably be Bakugou's sister. Straw blonde hair that framed her youthful face, her red eyes bouncing over Bakugou and Setsuna, before following along the outstretched arm to Ichigo. Her eyes widened as she rushed forward and grabbed his face, yanking it from side to side. "Katsuki, if this is a fucking prank, its a cruel one. She's been hurt too much as it is."

"I promise Ma." Ichigo's eyes darted to Bakugou then back at the woman still holding his face. "He is Izuku. I made damned sure. We found him, Mom."

She turned and looked at her son then back at Ichigo. "Oh." Pain erupted on his cheek as his head jerked to the side with the loud sound of flesh hitting flesh. "Where the hell have you been!"

"Oi, stop you old hag! He has amnesia! He doesn't know who you are!" Bakugou shouted as he let go of Ichigo and pulled his mother away. "He's spent the last five years having to relearn how to be human again, not to mention who he was."

Ichigo was still smarting from the slap as he was pulled forcibly into a hug. "Oh my sweet child, I'm so sorry! Right! I am your Aunt Mitsuki, this twits mother. Come inside, come on. Oh, she is going to be so happy to see you!" She said as she yanked Ichigo inside, "Masaru! Wake the fuck up! We got a guest."

Ichigo stumbled behind Mitsuki as she drug him behind her with surprising strength, before she stopped in front of a thick corded blanket draped over a wire like a curtain. "The first few years, she never gave up hope in finding you. She set fires under a lot of detectives' seats and hired P.I.s, but when none were able to find you after the first five years, she slowly started to wall herself off. When Hisashi sued for divorce though, well it broke her. She just stopped responding. Me, Masaru, and Katsuki tried our best to help her, even taking her to see shrinks, but" Mitsuki pulled aside the blanket that hid the room revealing a thin, pale, frail looking woman with long green hair sitting in a chair staring at something in her hands with haunted eyes. "All she does after waking up is stare at a picture of you."

She entered the room and crouched beside the woman in the chair, gently taking the picture out of the woman's hands. She tried to grab the picture back but Mitsuki put it on the counter out of her reach and took both of the woman's hands in her own. "Inko? Inko, hon, please look at me? Inko, he's here. He's back."

The woman's eyes stayed on her hands as Mitsuki rubbed them, tears beginning to stream down the blonde's face, "Inko, honey, look to the door."she gently cupped the woman's chin and guided her face to the door frame.

Green eyes with mismatched sclera met blank green eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> p>You can find me hanging out on Discord in [Epsi's Hoard](https://discord.gg/thehoard), I'm the three halos in a trench coat
> 
> Special thanks to cd22 from the above mentioned server, for editing this for me


	3. Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason I haven't described the rider forms is because I haven't exactly sat down and thought up what the forms look like outside of some of the concepts from wizard (open waist half skirt and crystal aesthetics) i was thinking maybe each form represents a different insect, like green is the staple grasshopper , topaz is the Hercules beetle, and ruby being the kabuto beetle. Suggestions are more than welcome.

**April 16th, one day after USJ**

* * *

_Green eyes met green eyes._

Ichigo stared in shock as feelings he couldn't recognize flitted from his chest. It hadn't truly hit him that this was the woman who tore through heaven and hell to try to find him. This woman had birthed him and gone through tragedy with his disappearance. Tears welled up in his eyes unbidden. Was he still her son?

Her eyes showed no emotion, no spark of recognition. They just blankly stared at him, void of anything. He moved before thinking and knelt at her feet.

"I can't remember who I was, only bits and pieces of the darkness and pain until I was saved and the feeling of warmth. I don't know what I'm even feeling. I don't… I just….I want what I used to have, before the darkness. I-I want that warmth again. I don't even know why I'm crying. I don't know who I am." Ichigo choked into the elder green haired woman's knee. "I know I must look like a freak now, with my eye, like a monster after what they did to me, but please. Please help me remember. I'm rambling. Why am I rambling?"

A hand landed onto his head making him jerk up to see those empty eyes staring at him, wide and teary. A hand found his cheek and gently traced it. "I-I-Izuku?"

He held the hand to his cheek. "H-hi Mom," He sniffed. "I'm home."

She stared at him before her empty eyes came alight with hope, desperation, and love. Tears began to pour from her eyes as she lunged forward and gripped Ichigo tightly. 

At the door, Mitsuki stood with a watery smile on her face as she watched.

* * *

**August 14, two years prior to USJ**

**Shield Aid & Forensic Equipment building (S.A.F.E), hidden testing facility, Musutafu, Japan**

"This is the brat you want me to teach? He's fucking skin and bones. What the hell Shield?"

"I know, Ms. Usagiyama. That's why I asked for your help. He's bound and determined to use kick attacks and you have the best fighting style for kicks. Just... remember our agreement."

"Yeah yeah, Shield. Discretion," said a petite, athletic looking, dark skinned woman with toned, muscular arms and legs. Her red eyes scanned the nervous Ichigo with heavy scrutiny. 

"Just don't forget the fucking deal, Shield," she said as she threw her jacket to the side and revealed her hero costume: a sleeveless, white leotard, with deep purple trimming around her shoulders and her slim waist. On her midriff sides were two thick plates that looked like they had compartments for supplies. Her powerful legs were sheathed in purple thigh high boots that clung tightly to her skin following down the curve of her muscles into thick metal plating, resembling a rabbit foot. "I need those gloves to be shock absorbing, keep breaking my damned fingers when I grab ledges. Her long white rabbit ears swiveled to the screen that showed David's face as he chuckled. 

"Don’t worry, Miruko, we'll get those gloves to you soon as I fabricate them." The screen relayed, making the rabbit woman scoff and flick her long white hair, done in a tight French braid, over her shoulder.

"Oh! And Ichigo, we'll be switching to the Beta driver. After your last fight, we had to rework your system, so the risk of destabilizing is more evened out. Mei redid the interface personality again, said you had some input."

"Oh! Yeah, I wanted it to sound more heroic, let people know it was safe because I was there," Ichigo said, looking past the short rabbit woman who raised an eyebrow and stared hard at David's screen. The man on the screen cleared his throat and typed a command into his terminal, making a pedestal rise in the center of the room. 

"Is any of this shit gonna start making sense any time soon? Cause I'm on a schedule." The rabbit hero snaked as she crossed her arms.

"O-oh. Sorry," Ichigo said, grabbing the belt on the pedestal and slapping it onto his waist. He looked closer at the details, noticing the diamond shape UI display was slightly bigger, with the rim looking like a gem cradle, with claw prongs curved over the facing. The slots for the keys had designs like a small crystal formation on either side of the display, the keys completing the aesthetic. "Really going ham on the whole crystal idea, huh David?"

"Actually, Mel designed the Beta driver," came the chuckled reply

"Oh. It's pretty," Ichigo stammered.

"Kid… do whatever you're gonna do. You're wasting time and I'm about to kick you," the hero stated, her foot tapping hard on the ground with annoyance. 

He started and rammed the clear crystal key into the slot. **"Stand by,"** the driver said as it activated. **"Ready. Please stand back, p-p-p-please stand back!"**

"Green key, Ichigo," David said, making Miruko roll her eyes with impatience.

"R-right." He slipped the emerald key into the slot. **"EMERALD! The verdant green of nature in crystal form! Please stand back, p-p-p-please stand back!"**

"Hen—" he pushed the keys in and twisted them forward, "—shin!"

Steam exploded everywhere, making Miruko jump back and fall into a fighting stance as the crinoline of electricity sounded from within the cloud. Small flashes of light flashed in the center as the cloud began to slowly pull inwards, forming crystalline armor parts that flew into the cloud. As the last of the steam collected into the last piece and slammed into his head, the suit the kid was now wearing sparked and its eyes lit up bright, luminescent purple before dulling slightly. 

**"There is no need to fear, for a Kamen Rider is near! K-k-k-k-kamen Rider: J-Jinkō!"**

Miruko looked at the suited kid, who was testing how the new suit felt and moving in it, and the man on the screen, her mouth open as she tried to find the words to describe what she was feeling. Finally she just snapped and screamed, "What. The. Fuck!"

* * *

**Takoba Municipal Beach**

"Alright, kid. Just like we practiced, harden to your absolute max." Eijirou Kirishima looked at the thin skeleton to his side, who held a nervous thumbs up. "Oi!" the old man said as something hard hit Kirishima's head. "That's not hardening, that's getting distracted," the old man huffed. 

"Figures Toshi would pick another meat head like him. I got two years to beat you two into shape, cause apparently, Toshinori, you can't teach for shit. Jeezus, I was retired, for cripe's sake."

* * *

**April 16th, present**

**Bakugou's house**

"She's sleeping now," Mitsuki said as she readjusted the blanket that blocked the room. Looking over her shoulder at Ichigo, she smiled slightly. "What do you plan to do now? Katsuki said you were going to be part of the hero course, so I'm assuming you're going to finish settling things with Nezu? Paperwork needing filing?"

"I am supposed to check in with him and see my friend about my gear. Just, please... If she wakes up, I'll be back as soon as i can," Ichigo said as he put his driver's bag on his shoulder. 

"I understand, Izuku. Go learn to be a hero. And tell Katsuki forty-two is not old enough to be a grandmother!" she said, yelling the last part over Ichigo's side earning her a squawk.

"Damn it woman, you gotta yell that shit?" 

"Love you too, Kacchan," Mitsuki giggled before looking back at Ichigo. "Please take care of my boy. I know he's a bit prickly, but after he met Setsuna... well, he's still prickly but he smiles more."

* * *

The walk back to Yuuei was quiet, Setsuna leaning on Bakugou's arm tiredly as Ichigo walked beside them, staring up at the night sky. New emotions he didn't know he’d had had come to him, reminding him of when he woke up in the canister with no memories, suspended in the slime. Reminding him of how he could only remember instincts, how the wires bound and dug tightly into his skin, the sickening smell of copper in the air as a new quirk was grafted to his bod—

"Hey, Green Bean, you ok? You don't look so good," Setsuna's lively voice sounded close to him, snapping him back to reality. He jerked his head up, when had he thrown up? He could see Bakugou staring at him, his red eyes full of concern.

"I'm fine. Just… i can remember some of… when I first woke up," he said as he spit bile from his mouth.

"How much of that time do you remember?" Bakugou asked, squatting down in front of Ichigo and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Most of it blurs together, to be honest. The feeling of floating in my stasis pod during the times I wasn't supposed to be active mostly," Ichigo said, earning a hissed curse from Bakugou. "I really don't want to talk about this, so… yeah."

"Izuku, I don't know you that well—" 

"makes two of us," Ichigo snarked quietly

"— but I know you don't keep this kind of thing repressed. You need to talk to someone."

"I did have someone to talk to about this, miss Tokage—"

"Dude, we're friends. Call me Setsuna," she said, interrupting him again.

"Fine, Setsuna. It's mostly just Mr. Toyomitsu and his girlfriend, but I _do_ talk to people about my time in Tahiti."

"She's offering a shoulder if you ever need one, nerd. Just take it, otherwise you'll never hear the end of it," Bakugou snorted.

"Better than what you do, mister I-explode-my-feelings. Wait, Tahiti?"

Ichigo grinned and looked her dead in the eyes before saying, "It's a magical place."

* * *

**September 10, two years prior to USJ**

**S.A.F.E, Musutafu, Japan**

When the legendary gear maker David Shield had offered Taishiro Toyomitsu a new set of knuckle dusters that wouldn’t bust his hands, Taishiro had leapt at the opportunity. Now he was questioning his sanity, as he stood in a large room with heavily padded walls with a kid not much older than sixteen or seventeen. He could see trauma haunting the boys eyes, which made him want to hug the boy and talk to him. 

"All right Ichigo, just like last time. The difference here is instead of endurance, we're testing power, so try to hit as hard as you can without bringing the quirks into it. Go when ready."

"Henshin!" the boy cried out as he turned the crystalline keys in the belt, before erupting into steam. 

" **There is no need to fear, for a Kamen Rider is near! K-k-k-k-kamen Rider: J-Jinkō!"**

Taishiro looked at the now suited kid and the man on the screen, his mouth open as he tried to find the words to describe what he was feeling. He looked over the odd insect themed, green crystal suit for a moment before his grin widened. "Okay! Hit me!" he exclaimed as he beat his puffed up stomach. Ichigo grinned behind the mask and fell into a basic kickboxing form that Miruko had taught him.

* * *

"Got a name, kid?" Taishiro asked as he clutched his knees. The kid had packed a heck of a punch, the raw power from one of the blows had nearly filled his Fat Absorption tolerance to its maximum; he’d nearly had to burn half his fat away just to contain one kick. He had been able to bleed the excess kinetic energy though, sending the power into the floor with a stomp. He was going to need to do some serious marathon eating to get his girth back. Though the kid was no All Might, it was still surprising how hard the kid could hit in the suit. 

The boy looked at him sadly for a moment. "They say my name is Izuku Midoriya."

Taishiro blinked and tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Don't really know my name. All I've been called until David and his girls found was 'failed experiment' and 'Project Ichigo'. Don't really know who I am."

"So who are you?" Taishiro asked bluntly.

"I just tol—"

"No, kid, you told me what you are, an amnesiac who drew a bad lot. Who you are isn't your name or your past, it's what drives you, what gives you hope." Taishiro walked up and put his large finger on the Boy's heart before continuing, "Right here, your heart, what dream does it hold? What motivates it to beat?"

"Um… I want people to see me and know everything is ok. That's what you're asking right? My desire? I want to be the light that shines for someone's darkest day. A symbol of hope that someone will see and know that all will be well."

Taishiro laughed boisterously before tapping on the boy's chest, "Then that is who you are, is it not? You are a hero."

"Ichigo."

Taishiro stopped laughing but looked at the boy, his smile never falling. "Ichigo. A strong name. Though, I think you're too green to be a strawberry," he said with a laugh and ruffled the boy's hair. 

"Tell me something, Ichigo." Taishiro said, sitting down on the bench and letting his hood fall back off his slim face. He patted the wood beside him and waited for the boy to sit before looking at him. "You said you were called a failed experiment. Why is that?"

"To be honest? I'm not quite sure. I remember this voice saying that the Nomu process wasn’t taking with me and that my body was rejecting the quirks."

"What is a Nomu?" Taishiro asked, as he turned to the lockers, letting his mind collect details of what the boy was saying.

"Well, mostly mindless hulks with no real conscious thought. They are the result of multiple quirks being forced into a single body." 

Taishiro gave the boy a squinting glance. "And how does one force quirks onto a body?"

The boy looked down. "Lots of pain and needles."

Taishiro looked at the door, hearing a quiet intake of air. Seeing the white tip of a bunny ear, he figured it was the rabbit hero Miruko. David _had_ said she was involved in this as well. He turned back to the kid and put his hand on his shoulder. 

"Kid, if you ever want to talk, I'll be happy to listen. You don't have to go through this alone. If you need me, tell David, and I'll be here as soon as I can. I want to hear your story, but you don't sound ready to tell it. So when you are, just holler." He gave the shoulder a pat and left the room, closing the door behind him before stopping. "How much did you hear?"

Miruko looked to the side. "Enough to know the kid had a fucking shit life. What the fuck do we do about this information?" 

Taishiro sighed. "Right now there isn't a whole lot we can do. You've seen the suit long enough to put together that Ichigo was probably that berserk creature we tried to fight two years ago. I'm guessing the other creatures were those Nomu things."

"Fatgum, we have to help him. This shit ain't right!"

"And we will. We can help him the most simply by being there. I'm going to put my agency to work to find anything I can about the boy's family and God help them if they put him in this mess."

"Want some help?" The rabbit hero looked up at him with fiery red eyes.

"I would love some."

* * *

**Present day**

**Heights Alliance dorms**

Ichigo stared at the ceiling of the room Nezu had provided. Meeting everyone in the class had been… interesting, to say the least. One kid especially was odd, continuously calling Ichigo 'manly', whatever that meant. He was also pretty sure the class rep was a robot. 

One kid in particular had offended him greatly with questions about Mei. Questions like: had he ever seen her without her shirt on? What was her bra size? What style of underwear did she prefer? Did he ever see her naked? Eventually he had punted the boy out the front door like a gridiron (American football) and shut it behind him. He didn't know why the boy asking those questions irked him so much or why it brought up this primal urge to stake his claim, but it had and did. Maybe he should talk to Mei about that. 

He didn't have much in terms of decorations for his room: basic stands for his drivers when they weren't with Mei, some posters of Miruko and Fatgum, and a picture of the two together out of uniform, ruffling his verdant hair. He thought back to the last time he had spoken with Taishiro and the ring the large man had shown the younger man. So much hope and happiness shown in the big guys eyes when he declared he was going to ask the rabbit to marry him. Ichigo hoped the large man had been lucky, they’d been practically inseparable since they’d started working with Ichigo. “ _Speaking of_ ,” he thought, grabbing his phone off his desk and pulling out his messages, firing one off to the man he had started to see as an elder brother.

**_Evergreen_ ** _:_

_Met my mother today._

**_Aw_lawd_him_a-comin:_ **

_you did!?_

_How did it go?_

**_Evergreen:_ **

_She was quiet. Withdrawn mostly._

_Cried a lot._

_Showed me some pictures of me as a kid._

**_Aw_lawd_him_a-comin:_ **

_Oh. I'm happy to hear you finally found her._

**_Evergreen:_ **

_Yeah the last Nomu I fought got me on Yuuei's radar. One of the students, Katsuki Bakugou, recognized me. Said he was there the day I got abducted and has a scar on the side of his head that he claims is from the buttstock of a rifle. Anyways, Nezu, the dean, wants me here, says he is going to look into my case in more detail._

**_Aw_lawd_him_a-comin:_ **

_We did try to tell you about the hunting Nomu thing being vigilantism._

**_Evergreen:_ **

_Yeah, I know. How's Rumi? You ask her yet?_

_Please tell me she said yes._

**_Aw_lawd_him_a-comin:_ **

_Her words were, and I quote, "It's about fucking time."_

**_Evergreen:_ **

_Lol YES! Mel owes me a twenty!_

**_Aw_lawd_him_a-comin:_ **

_You bet on my proposal?_

_How dare >:( _

**_Evergreen:_ **

_We bet on whether or not she would make you sweat about it. I said she would say something like "what took you so long", Mel said Rumi would make you sit on your knee until your butt cramped._

**_Aw_lawd_him_a-comin:_ **

_Wow. You bet on me and yet, I am still the winner._

_When are you going to ask one of those sparkplugs on a date?_

**_Evergreen:_ **

_Be a bit hard to do with Mel living with David on I-Island_

_Wish she could be here._

_Not the same talking to her through the phone_

**_Aw_lawd_him_a-comin:_ **

_I feel ya Evergreen. So how was your first day at school?_

**_Evergreen:_ **

_You tell me. Had to fight All Might._

**_Aw_lawd_him_a-comin:_ **

_…_

_…_

_COME AGAIN?!_

**_Evergreen:_ **

_Night~_

**_Aw_lawd_him_a-comin:_ **

_Oh no you don't. What do you mean you had to fight All Might?_

_Evergreen?_

_Ichigo!_

_IZUKU MIDORIYA, YOU ANSWER ME!_

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bottom
> 
> This chapter fought me, there were some hard topics that I couldn't figure out how to articulate well enough and it kept messing with how I envisioned this chapter to go.
> 
> Post Traumatic Stress is not a joke, and forcing someone to talk about it can only make them withdraw more. Do they need to talk? Yes, but forcing them to talk about it before they're ready is just as bad as ignoring them. Simple gestures, like shoulder pats and hugs now and then, just to let them know you care can open their shells a lot more and make them feel comfortable enough to talk to you. 
> 
> Giving them a comfortable area, or safe space to spread out in helps as well. PTSD is commonly considered in society to be a joke, a fake mental illness by people who don't understand, while it is, in fact, a serious mental issue that often comes with other issues such as schizophrenia, severe depression, social anxiety, bipolarism. If you know someone dealing with PTSD, don't let them suffer alone. Be there for them.
> 
> Special thanks to BooBoo the fool over on [Epsi's Hoard](https://discord.gg/thehoard) for editing this. Come join us if you're looking for a chat, I'm "Halo needs more sleep."

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Paradox for brainstorming this with me and sharing our love for tokusatsu, always nice to meet a fellow fan of the genre. Without you, this fic would still be a pipe dream.
> 
> You can find me hanging out on Discord in [Epsi's Hoard](https://discord.gg/thehoard)  
> , I'm the three halos in a trench coat
> 
> Special thanks to Boo Boo the fool, from the above mentioned server, for editing this for me


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